THIS MONTH
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“A large part of our success is based on the fact that we involved customers in the development process,” said Dr Peter A. Meier of Ethicon, at the recent BVMed conference on medtech innovation. Delegates heard that approximately 50% of innovations developed by users are taken up by the medical technology sector and a structured employment of doctors’ ideas is an important factor in the success of innovation potential. Also, the importance of placing the patient at the centre of product or process innovation was stressed by speaker, Thom Rasche of Earlybird, who commented, “It is not the specifications of the product that are the key, but rather how they can benefit patients.” www.bvmed.de
Market gains in membrane separation
Demand for membranes is projected to increase by 11.5% per year to reach US$620 million in 2010, according to The Freedonia Group. Some of these gains will result from developments in drug delivery and in a wider variety of applications. For example, diabetic patients may be treated with a membrane-based artificial pancreas device, whereby insulin-producing pancreatic islet cells are encapsulated in membrane devices that allow glucose to pass into the device while allowing insulin to move into the body. In another application, a similar device would filter cholesterol from the blood of patients with dangerously high cholesterol levels. Membranes are also gaining market presence with value-added versions in the advanced intravenous therapies sector. Further demand is expected to be boosted in the testing and diagnostics sector as sales of single-use kits increase by managed-care insurers seeking to reduce costs and by consumers using home-testing kits to manage personal health. www.freedoniagroup.com
Tissue-engineering rules get closer
Eucomed, the European medical tech-nology industry association, has made recommendations on six aspects of the European Commission’s proposed regulation on Advanced Therapies. The regulation will provide the long-awaited harmonised rules for the approval and marketing of human tissue engineered products. Eucomed has asked for a change in the current unworkably short transition period of two years for implementing the provisions, and a requirement that Member States be transparent and give notice of human or animal cells that will be prohibited in their territory. It also recommends that the evaluation procedure is performed by European experts and that a new Committee for Advanced Therapies be created in the European Medicines Agency to enhance this. It also seeks the development of a new legal framework and amendments to the Clinicial Trials and Good Manufacturing Practices Directives. Director-General Maurice Wagner commented, “It is indispensable to get it absolutely right for the future, to safeguard the innovativeness and competitiveness of the European industry.” www.eucomed.be
Stent report
Evidence from a study by ECRI has found that although two commercially available drug-eluting stents used to treat coronary artery disease differ, the differences are not significant for most patients. The nonprofit research agency compared the safety and effectiveness of two drug-eluting stents manufactured by Cordis and Boston Scientific based on pooled data from 21 randomised controlled trials. The study also confirmed that both stents produce significantly greater clinical benefits than bare-metal stents, without increasing short- or midterm adverse-event rates. www.ecri.org
New Director at ABHI
The Association of British Healthcare Industries (ABHI) has appointed Andy Taylor as Director — Healthcare Policy. The new post reportedly reflects the accelerating pace of developments in policy and ABHI‘s wish to keep in close touch with those developments, leading on from the Healthcare Industries Task Force. Taylor has spent 15 years at the UK Department of Health working most recently on the expansion of National Health Service (NHS) dental access centres and devolution to the NHS of the powers to control NHS dentistry. www.abhi.org.uk
Training in nonwovens
The European Disposables and Nonwovens Association is hosting two training courses for the first time in New Delhi, India, during the week of 13 November 2006. The two-day nonwovens and absorbent hygiene products courses aim to help newcomers to the industry in India gain a complete understanding of the technologies, processes and raw materials used in these sectors. The association will also hold its second Filtrex filtration conference and exhibition on 24–25 October 2006 in Munich, Germany. Programme topics will include testing and nanofibres. www.edana.org
Drug delivery
The value of the worldwide cancer drug delivery market was US$7.5 billion in 2005 and is expected to rise to US$18.4 billion by 2010, according to a report by Research and Markets. The latest approaches in drug delivery used in cancer treatment are concerned with targeted therapy, and treatment that prevents damage to normal tissues and drug resistance. Innovative delivery methods include the use of microparticles as carriers of anticancer agents, which are injected into the arterial circulation and guided to the tumour by magnetic field. The report profiles 167 companies involved in developing therapies and delivery methods. www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c37143
